With the proliferation of mobile computing devices, location-based access to content on these devices cannot be readily physically controlled. In a traditional personal computing architecture, stationary computers are placed in a facility at specific locations and users can access information on the computers via some type of application software. Because these computers are stationary, the applications can be specific to the location of the computer and access to these applications can be physically controlled (e.g., by locking the door to a room that houses a stationary computer). In contrast, access to mobile computing devices usually cannot be easily physically controlled. Thus, users of mobile computing devices can generally use applications installed on the mobile computing devices, which for various reasons should be used only in certain physical locations, in any location where the mobile computing device can be transported. This inability to control the location from where a user is accessing an application can lead to risks and inefficiencies. For example, if a machine on an assembly line is operated over a network by a software application running on a tablet, it may be desirable to limit access to the software application to instances when the tablet is in close physical proximity to the machine. To allow the operator to operate the machine from some location that is not immediately adjacent to the machine, such as the break room, is risky because the machine could injure someone without its operator's knowledge and is inefficient because the machine could malfunction without its operator's knowledge. Physically restraining the tablet so that it cannot leave the proximity of the machine could potentially eliminate some of those risks and inefficiencies, but that method defeats the purpose of installing the software application on a non-stationary terminal, namely the ability for one device to provide multiple users with access to unlimited types of content. Further, use of multiple stationary devices (in a manufacturing facility, for example) is costly.
Therefore, there is a long-felt but unresolved need for a system or method that manages content (e.g., software applications) running on mobile computing devices based on some combination of the device's physical location, device type, and user.